As is known, Hall effect elements are used to sense a magnetic field, and can generate a voltage proportional to the magnetic field. Some conventional Hall effect elements are formed upon a silicon substrate in an integrated circuit manufacturing process. As is also known, there are different types of Hall effect elements, for example, planar Hall elements, vertical Hall elements, circular Hall elements, and Indium antimonide (InSb) sensors.
A conventional Hall effect element includes a metal field plate, a silicon Hall plate, and a plurality of conductive electrical contacts coupled to the Hall plate. Two of the electrical contacts can be used to drive the Hall effect element with a current or with a voltage, and two of the electrical contacts can be used to sense an output voltage, which is proportional to the magnetic field experienced by the Hall effect element.
It is often desirable to have a Hall effect element with a high sensitivity, i.e., that produces as large as possible a voltage when experiencing a given magnetic field. To this end, it is known that an electron mobility of the Hall plate tends to influence the sensitivity of a Hall effect element. In particular, a Hall plate with high mobility (e.g., electron or hole mobility) tends to result in a sensitive Hall effect element. However, it is known that silicon has limitations upon electron mobility.